How to Build a Successful Company in an Era of Disruption

How to Build a Successful Company in an Era of Disruption

What happens when a startup becomes a giant—and then has to reinvent itself all over again?

In this episode, Martin Casado sits down with Raghu Raghuram (former CEO of VMware) and Jeetu Patel (President and CPO at Cisco) for a deep, tactical conversation on scaling, disruption, and navigating transformation from the inside. They share hard-won lessons from leading two of the most iconic infrastructure companies in tech—through waves like virtualization, cloud, containers, and now AI.

They cover:

  • How to keep innovation alive inside large companies
  • Why the best companies operate with a founder’s mindset, even without founders
  • The difference between selling to buyers vs. practitioners
  • Why the story is the strategy, and how to tell it at scale
  • How Cisco is rebuilding its startup DNA in the age of AI

If you're building or leading through a major tech wave, this episode is a playbook.

Timecodes:

0:00 Introduction

2:02 Weapons of Mass Disruption: Abstractions, Business Models, and Cloud

5:57 Cisco’s Missed Cloud Wave & Resetting for Innovation

6:39 Operating Like a Startup: Speed, Scale, and Leadership

10:00 Go-to-Market Challenges: Fencing Off Innovation

11:04 Organic vs. Inorganic Growth: Lessons from VMware

12:04 The 10x Rule and Competing with Incumbents

14:39 Structuring for Disruption: Two-Pizza Teams and Ideal Customer Profiles

18:43 Storytelling as Strategy: Galvanizing Large Organizations

19:42 The AI Wave: Consumerization and Infrastructure Demands

25:34 Founders vs. Operators: Leading Transformations

31:47 Product-Led Organizations: From Sales to Product Focus

34:35 The Future of Infrastructure: AI, Market Size, and Vertical Integration

39:34 Timing, Market, Team, Product, Brand, and Scale

41:19 Authenticity, Opportunity, and Final Thoughts

Resources:

Find Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Find Raghu on X: https://x.com/raghuraghuram

Find Jeetu on X: https://x.com/jpatel41

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Episoder(902)

Disrupting the World’s Largest Asset Class with Adam Neumann

Disrupting the World’s Largest Asset Class with Adam Neumann

Back in August, after a16z announced our investment into Adam Neumann’s new company, Flow, it felt like almost everyone – whether it was other VCs, founders, or journalists – had something to say.But the one person that you didn’t hear from was Adam himself.In this never-before shared footage from a16z’s American Dynamism Summit in Washington DC, Adam Neumann sits down with Marc Andreessen and David Ulevitch, to discuss the opportunities that have emerged from post-pandemic shifts in both work and home, and what Flow is doing to capitalize.Find the full library of American Dynamism Summit recordings at a16z.com/ad-summit.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction01:40 - Getting back in the arena 09:03 - The opportunity in housing 16:19 - Lessons from WeWork 19:13 - Work & home post-pandemic 27:34 - Moving to the cloud 34:23 - Office serendipity 37:51 - Building Flow 43:51 - Cities as startupsResources:Flow’s website: https://www.flow.life/American Dynamism recordings: https://a16z.com/ad-summit Stay Updated: Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16zFind us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zSubscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithioPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

7 Feb 202349min

Healthspan, Lifespan, and the Biology of Aging

Healthspan, Lifespan, and the Biology of Aging

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3 Feb 202336min

2023 Big Ideas in Technology (Part 2)

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27 Jan 20231h 8min

2023 Big Ideas in Technology (Part 1)

2023 Big Ideas in Technology (Part 1)

At the end of 2022, our team at a16z asked dozens of partners across the firm to spotlight one big idea that startups in their fields could tackle in 2023.Emerging from this exercise came 40+ builder-worthy pursuits for the year, ranging from entertainment franchise games to precision delivery of medicine to small modular reactors, and of course loads of AI applications.In our 2-part series, we’ll be covering 12 of these big ideas with the partners that shared them.Here in part 1, we’ll cover Consumer, Games, and Enterprise, with a little Fintech sprinkled in. Listen in as we chat with Connie Chan, Anne Lee Skates, Jack Soslow, Doug McCracken, Sarah Wang, and Sumeet Singh.And look out for part 2 dropping soon, covering Fintech, American Dynamism, and Bio & Health!For the full list of 40+ ideas, check out the full article: https://a16z.com/2022/12/15/big-ideas-in-tech-2023/Topics Covered:(1:30) Breakthroughs in Buying (Finally!) - Connie Chan(16:40) Unlocking the “Third Place” - Anne Lee Skates(30:14) Games as a Neverending Turing Test - Jack Soslow(46:09) The Metaverse Goes Fashion Forward - Doug McCracken(59:24) Generative AI Advances Beyond “Text to Image” to Complex Workflows - Sarah Wang(1:12:23) Embracing Large Language Models and Maintaining Trust - Sumeet SinghStay Updated: Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16zFind us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zSubscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithioPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

24 Jan 20231h 22min

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The Human Behind the Genius

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19 Jan 202322min

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Expert AI as a Healthcare Superpower

Expert AI as a Healthcare Superpower

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10 Jan 202357min

Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger

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with @robertiger @cdixon @smc90A wide-ranging conversation with Bob Iger on the interplay between technology, content, and distribution; as well as Bob’s journey -- and that of various creators! -- especially as the industry evolved from TV and cable to the advent of the internet/ web 1.0 to 2.0 to briefly touching on web3 and other emerging technologies. As well as topics top of mind for all company and community builders: from build vs. buy and the innovator's dilemma, to managing creativity, decentralization, remote work, and much more. Subscribe to web3 with a16z: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/web3-with-a16z-crypto/id1622312549 Stay Updated: Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16zFind us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zSubscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithioPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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